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43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Natal Astrology, Classically Interpreted, February 17, 2003
This review is from: Astrology: Understanding the Birth Chart (Paperback)
First, I want to say that I love this book. I checked it out from the library a few days ago and could not put it down until I finished it! However, I do feel the need to warn beginning students of astrology that this book may be overwhelming. This is not a good "first" book. There is so much detailed information here that a complete beginner may feel bogged down. In my opinion it's a book for somebody who already has a basic understanding of signs, planets, houses, and aspects. One of the things I like most about this book is the author's treatment of the outer planets. He doesn't abandon the ancient rulers of Scorpio, Aquarius, or Pisces in favor of the new rulers, but he doesn't throw out the new rulers either. The author's explanation of essential dignities and retrograde motion (in relation to astrology) are the best and most meaningful I've seen. This book is very different than anything I've seen on natal astrology because of it's classical approach. Highly recommended!
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30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
comprehensive introductory book on astrology, December 2, 2001
This review is from: Astrology: Understanding the Birth Chart (Paperback)
Kevin Burk is one of the students of Dr. J. L. Lehman. He holds a Level IV NCGR (National Council for Geocosmic Research) certification in astrological counseling. This book is an introductory book on astrology, which combines both modern and classical methods. Those who want to learn classical astrology, but are reluctant to read the old "Christian Astrology" written by William Lily, would be pleased to find such a nice book. After explaning basic meanings of planets and signs, the author picks up the "Essential diginities" in the following chapter, where he describes the meaning of Rulership, Exaltation, Triplicity, Term, Face, Detriment, Fall, and Pregrine. Then he interpretes the combination of planets in signs based on the essential dignities. This is one of the most important differences from textbooks of modern astrology. In the beginning of the chapter that explain aspects, the author writes: "aspects were counted by sign, not by degree" in ancient astrology. But now we have to look at two factors when examining the aspects, that is, the sign relationship and the harmonic relationship. Such a consideration can be important when we interpret the out-of-sign aspects (for example, Mars at Cancer 1' and Moon at PIsces 29'). Another point to consider is whether an aspect is applying, partile, or separating. Partile aspects are the most important, and appling ones are the next most important, while separating are the least important, the author says. One of the most interesting explanation in the book is about "mutual reception." When the complementary pairs of planets are in mutual reception, such as Sun/Moon and Saturn, Venus and Mars, and Mercury and Jupiter, the effect of mutual reception are said to be conceived like "mutual deception." Another impressive interpretation is provided for "retrograde." According to the author, direct planets mean "growth," which is straightforward and encompasses lessons that are designed to be learned during the lifetime to integrate and comprehend. Instead, retrograde planets mean "evolution," which is unusual, difficult to comprhend, and encompasses soul lessons that require more than one lifetime to integrate and complete. Furtheremore, the author provides explanation of the differences in house systems. That is, equal house systems, quadrant systems (campanus, regiomontanus, porphyry, alcabitius), time systems (placidus, koch), and space systems (meridian). Thus, this can be a truly comprehensive introductory book on astrology!
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A New Classic, April 19, 2006
This review is from: Astrology: Understanding the Birth Chart (Paperback)
This book is exactly what it promises to be: A comprehensive guide to the classical interpretation of a birth chart. It is a relatively new book (the first edition was published in 2001) by a young writer, and I think it is destined to become a classic.
In a substantial volume of 350 pages, Burk explains in detail all the astrological concepts and phenomena in a birth chart, i.e. elements, signs, planets and their positions, houses, aspects, nodes, retrogrades etc.
It is a wonderful introductory book for beginners and intermediate astrologers, but if you are not serious about astrology, this book is going to be too complicated for you, simply because of the volume and depth of the information there.
What I especially like about this book is that although it has so much information, it is written with such insight and skill that it not in the least reduced to a cookbook of dry information. It goes beyond the surface, explaining the history and the reasons behind the interpretation. It really contributes to your learning and mastering the art of chart interpretation, instead of just applying rules and key words you don't understand.
His language is precise, deep, concise and knowledgeable and has a scientific style, without being too technical.
He really brings astrology to the 21st century. Wonderful work.
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